Popular vote loser Donald Trump’s approval rating among the American public is the lowest of any president at this point in his term, according to recent polling from Gallup. Immigrants, however, are a hell of a lot more popular than him, and by a landslide:
Six in 10 Americans said immigration helps the nation more than it hurts—up 6 points since the last sounding, in September 2016. One-third of people in the survey said immigration hurts more than it helps.
The result, which marks the highest level of support for immigration dating to at least 2005, comes as Mr. Trump is asking lawmakers to fund a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico and has twice signed executive orders, blocked by federal courts, suspending entry from certain countries.
Both parties, by contrast, showed increasing support for immigration. Among Democrats, those who saw immigration as beneficial grew 10 points, to 79%, between December 2015 and April of this year. Among Republicans, it grew 9 points, to 37%; 53% of Republicans viewed immigration as harmful to the U.S.
Among independents, the share viewing immigration as beneficial grew by 16 points since late 2015, to 63%.
“It seems the more American people listen to Donald Trump and his administration rail against immigrants, the more they support the immigrants,” notes immigrant rights group America’s Voice.
Despite Trump’s racist, anti-immigrant rhetoric, an overwhelming majority of Americans are in favor of giving undocumented immigrants with deep ties to the US a chance to continue building their lives, families, and homes here. “March CNN polling found that 90% of Americans, including 87% of Republicans, back an earned path to citizenship,” according to America’s Voice.
Meanwhile, Americans have consistently opposed Trump’s failed Muslim bans and “big, beautiful” wall, and by significant majorities. In fact, the wall, which was mostly confined to the dank corners of the fringe right before getting endorsed by Trump during the election, got less popular. It’s gotta smart for a guy who cares so much about ratings and crowd sizes.